iPhone 5 hits the teardown table, scores a 7 out of 10 for repairability from iFixit

If it's the day that shipments of the latest iPhone arrive around the world, then it is just as surely the day that iFixit's teardown specialists break out their screwdrivers and show you what's inside. This is not the first teardown of the iPhone 5, but it will certainly be among the best and most detailed. Some pleasant surprises inside Apple's latest device are signed indicating it will be much more easily repairable than its predecessor, thanks to a case that opens front to back, a pop-out ear speaker and a display assembly the team says is reminiscent of the iPhone 3GS. Also good news for those suffering through worn-out home buttons is an integrated metal support this time around, which may help extend its lifespan and make replacing it easier when it does expire. Beyond that, a 28nm Qualcomm MDM9615M chip is handling LTE, HSPA+, EV-Do Rev B and TD-SCMA connectivity, while the new metal back casing barely outweighs the back glass from the iPhone 4S. Hit the source link or check out the video review (embedded after the break) for more pics and details from deep inside the iPhone 5, while most fans wait a few more hours to get their grubby fingers all over the outside of one.

[Source: Engadget]

Navigon and StreetPilot Onboard update adds public transport, Apple Maps and iPhone 5 support

Navigon's gearing up for tomorrow's big day by updating its, erm, Navigon and StreetPilot Onboard apps. The refreshed software adds support for the iPhone 5's new 4-inch display as well as baking in public transport listings to Cupertino's presently underwhelming mapping offering. It's also gaining the promised "last mile" function to record the location of your car when finishing your journey on foot, sparing you the embarrassment of getting lost in the multi-storey lot when you return. The company's offering a $10 discount on its apps if you pick 'em up before October 3rd, while the in-app purchase of Urban Guidance has been reduced from $5 to $3 for the same period. We've had a note from Garmin to say that while Navigon update is now available, StreetPilot Onboard has been slightly delayed.

[Source: Engadget]

Samsung has BIG dig at iPhone 5 Queuers

Even though I love Apple products, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is with no doubt an awesome phone. Samsung seem to think so too, they also think iPhone 5 queues are funny. Check out their new advert below.

Apple A6 Processor is a Custom Apple Design, Prioritizing Performance and Power Efficiency

As part of their iPhone 5 announcement, Apple revealed that the new iPhone is powered by a new "A6" processor from Apple. The A6 is said to have twice the CPU power and twice the GPU power of the previous generation Apple A5 processor. Beyond that, however, Apple offered few other details about the nature of the processor. For example, it's not clear how many cores the processor has or what the clock speed is.

[Source: MacRumors - Read more here]

Apple's New iPhone 5 Has 1GB of RAM

Apple announced the iPhone 5 on Wednesday. The new iPhone contains several improvements including the use of a new A6 processor from Apple. While it's been widely speculated that Apple would boost the RAM in the new iPhone, we haven't seen much in the way of confirmation. 

The iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 both contain 512MB of RAM for developers to work with. Running out of RAM can cause some performance issues as existing applications or documents may have to be purged from memory from time to time. 

iFans first posted confirmation that the iPhone 5 has 1GB of ram based on the part numbers listed on the A6 chip itself. After some investigation with Kyle Wiens from iFixit, we've been able to confirm their findings as well, using Samsung's own product guides.

The chart above comes from Samsung's 2012 Product Solutions Guide (PDF) which lists part numbers of various memory parts they have for sale. The iPhone 5's A6 part number lines up with the family of 8 Gigabit mobile DRAMs which translates into 1GB of RAM. The A5 part family is also listed and accurately shows 512MB of RAM (4 Gigabit).

[Source: MacRumors]

Samsung Running an iPhone 5 Attack Ad in Newspapers on Sunday

CNet and Businessinsider have published a new print ad that Samsung will be running in national newspapers tomorrow.

And so Samsung is greeting the arrival of the iPhone 5 with an ad that will run tomorrow in certain national and local newspapers (how modern). It is not a flattering ad. It suggests that the iPhone 5 isn't even good enough to be, well, a copy of the Galaxy S3.

The ad is titled "It doesn't take a genius." which serves as a dig against Apple Retail's genius bars. The rest of the ad shows the iPhone 5 alongside the Samsung Galaxy S III and lists a number of system specifications as well as features. The list is obviously heavily weighted towards Samsung where many of their software features are preferentially listed. At the end is the line "The Next Big Thing Is Already Here". 

Apple and Samsung have been competing head to head in the smartphone market and in the courtroom. Apple won a massive victory in their U.S. patent trial against Samsung with a $1.05 billion verdict. 

[Source: MacRumors]

iPhone 5 Benchmarks Appear in Geekbench Showing a Dual Core, 1GHz A6 CPU

The results show an iPhone5,2 device running iOS 6 with a Dual-Core 1.02GHz ARMv7 processor and 1GB of RAM.

The total Geekbench 2 score comes in at 1601. Poole notes that the average score for the iPhone 4S is 629 and the average score for the iPad 3 is 766. A comparison chart of previous iOS devices can be viewed at Geekbench. The numbers seem to validate Apple's claim that the A6 processor is twice as fast as the A5 and any previous iOS device. This one score also places the iPhone 5 ahead of the average scores of all Android phones on Geekbench. The full Geekbench results further breakdown processor, memory and bandwidth performance.

[Source: MacRumors - Read more here]

Apple Announces Over Two Million iPhone 5 Pre-Orders in First Day of Sales

Following today's announcement by AT&T sharing word that the iPhone 5 has broken pre-order sales records at the carrier, Apple has issued a press release noting that it too saw record-breaking pre-orders of over two million units in the first 24 hours of availability. The performance breaks last year's record of one million iPhone 4S units pre-ordered on the first day of availability.

“iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPhone 5 is the best iPhone yet, the most beautiful product we’ve ever made, and we hope customers love it as much as we do.”

The iPhone 5 will be available beginning this Friday, September 21. The first pre-orders have begun shipping from China, but delivery companies will be coordinating to hold the shipments until Friday. Customers who did not pre-order the device have also begun lining up at a few Apple retail stores ahead of Friday's launch, although most of those seen so far are lining up for promotional purposes.

[Source: MacRumors]

iPhone 5 contract prices for UK phone networks revealed

While Apple had its preorders primed since 8am BST, British carriers have only just unveiled their monthly prices for the newest iPhone. Vodafone will offer it on contracts from £25 per month -- with an initial £249 outlay) or free on £47 per month for two years. That free deal will net you a 16GB iPhone 5, with 2GB of data, unlimited texts and voice minutes. On Orange, a 24-month contract at £46 will nab you the same 16GB model for free, with 3GB of data and unlimited calls and texts. If you drop down to the £20 rate, you'll have to pay £320 upfront and pick up a lightweight bundle of 100MB of data, 50 texts and 50 minutes. EE stablemate T-Mobile isn't offering any free iPhones on its carrier plans, but you'll be able to glean unlimited internet (alongside 2000 voice minutes) on a 16GB iPhone 5 for £109 and £36 per month on contract.

Confusingly, anyone looking to grab the UK's first LTE network on the iPhone 5 will have to sign up to a "4GEE from EE" plan -- which still hasn't revealed its pricing. Meanwhile, Three UK currently has the 16GB iPhone on its unlimited data One Plan at £79 upfront, on a £36 per month deal. We'll update again once we hear O2's plans. 

EE says "Customers can either wait for EE to launch (we will be announcing the date in the coming weeks) or they can sign up to a contract with T-Mobile or Orange and upgrade to EE free of charge once it has launched, as long as they move to an equivalent priced and length plan"

Phones4U is taking its own pre-orders for those who want to enlist with Orange, T-Mobile or Vodafone. O2 has also chipped in with its details and is offering the iPhone 5 on plans starting from £26 per month; like Orange, you'll have to opt for at least a £46 monthly outlay to get one for free. The O2 plans offer the same unlimited voice and texts, but just 1GB of data. Lastly, Carphone Warehouse has chipped in with its own advance order campaign, although it's only taking online orders for the 16GB black iPhone at this stage: you'll need to call in for everything else.

[Source: Engadget]

iPhone 5 shipping times slip to 2-3 weeks, Lightning port adapter shipments push to October

Last evening, Apple made the iPhone 5, new iPods and a slew of its accessory products available on its online store. The excitement surrounding the occasion was certainly there. Just an hour after sales began, shipping estimates for the iPhone 5 have already began slipping to 2-3 weeks. Strangely, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint are all still advertising a 9/21 ship date.

Furthermore, Apple’s Lightning-30 pin port adaptor has also sold out, with shipments being pushed back to October. There had been some confusion last evening with some reports of Lightning adapters shipping free with iPhone  5s. Those were apparently glitches with Apple confirming the additional $30 charge.

[Source: 9to5Mac]

IPHONE 5 SLEEVES NOW AVAILABLE AT COLCASAC

ColcaSac, a manufacturer of eco-friendly protective sleeves for Apple and Kindle devices revealed today that iPhone 5 sleeves are now available on its website. ColcaSac takes advantage of its track record in making custom sleeves since 2004 to quickly produce protective sleeves for the iPhone 5. 

ColcaSac had been receiving favorable feedback from its customers and from notable sites such as The Next Web, Gizmodo, Gadget Mac, CNET, Tuaw, and has been cited by New York Times and green travel site Matador Network for its high quality sleeves made for the MacBook and iPad. Following the swift production and successful delivery of its sleeves for the new iPad and the MacBook Pro Retina 15" in the past months, "We expect the demand for iPhone 5 sleeves to be just as a phenomenal, if not more exceptional," says Jared Rasmussen, founder of ColcaSac Inc.

These naturally protective sleeves for the iPhone 5 are available in four styles that are creatively named after ColcaSac's rich travels from around the world. There's the Uintah that's lifted from the mountains in Utah; Hanakapiai is a beach in northern Kauai; Zagora trails from an unforgettable camel ride in Marrakech; and Juan Valdez is inspired by the famous Colombian coffee grower icon. Each style features a minimalist yet fashionably functional design that comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

A new iPhone, a new sleeve

These sleeves are based on the design characteristics of the originals collection (blend of contemporary design, functionality and high quality materials). The iPhone 5 wallet now features a color combination of light- and dark grey wool felt to create an interesting contrast and a sense of detail.

Take a look: The Sleeve - The Wallet